The Lady in the Lab
by DemigodDaughterOfTheTARDIS
Summary: When a certain bow-tie-and-tweed wearing man shows up at the Jeffersonian, looking for Dr. Temperence Brennan, things go all... wibbley-wobbley. Emotions rise, secrets are revealed, and things will be learned that no one thought to be possible.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N~ Hello, sweeties and interns alike! Here is the first chapter in something new I'm working on. Explanations will be made later on as to what is happening, but for now, enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own either Doctor Who or Bones.**

Agent Seeley Booth was going to visit his partner when someone tapped his shoulder.

"Excuse me." An English accented voice said. Booth turned to see a rather tall man with floppy brown hair. Looking over him, he wasn't really impressed with what he saw. He had a big chin to go with the hair, and wore a tweed jacket with suspenders and a bow tie.

"Yeah, what's up, pal?" Booth asked pleasantly.

The man smiled at him, clapping his hands together. "Do you know where Tes is?"

"Who?"

"Ah, yes." The man said apologetically. "Dr. Brennan."

Booth looked at him in suspicion. "I'm sorry, but who are you?"

The man smiled. "I'm…. an old friend of hers."

"Riiight." Booth said, grabbing the man by the shoulder, and pulling out his handcuffs. "Yeah, except here's the thing - I don't buy that for a second."

"I'm sorry, Bones?" The man spluttered. "No, I'm looking for Tes - for Temperence! She's the Head of the Anthropology Department!"

"Yeah, except you just tried to lie to me to get at my _partner_." Booth said. "And that ain't gonna work. 'Cause Bones doesn't exactly get along with people - like _at all._ "

Booth moved to take the Brit to his car, when the man went rigid.

"Angela! Angela Montenegro!" he called, looking ahead of him. "Angela!"

The artist in question paused in her conversation with the resident bug-and-slime guy and turned to look at them before walking over. "What's going on, Booth?" she asked, looking the man over. "Who is this?"

The Brit laughed, shaking his head fondly. "Ah, you never change, Angela."

"I'm sorry?" Angela asked, looking shocked. "Have we met before?"

He smiled at her. "The last time we met," he admitted, "I wore a ridiculous looking scarf, and offered you Jelly Babies." he said. "Been a long time since then for me, but it can't have been too long for you, eh?"

Angela's eyes lit up in recognition as she laughed in surprise.

"Angela, do you know this guy?" Booth asked.

She nodded, pulling the man into a hug as he laughed, hugging her back.

"Angie?" Hodgins asked, walking over. "Who is this?"

Angela let go of the man, but held onto his hand. "This is a very old friend of mine." she said excitedly, before her eyes went wide.

"Does she know you're here?" She asked the man, who shook his head.

Angela laughed, pulling on his arm. "Well come on then, sweetie." she said, raising an eyebrow at the man. "Let's go make our girl's _universe-_ " the stress on the word, followed by the man's laughter made both Hodgins and Booth curious. "a little bit brighter."

And so, the two men followed behind in shock and surprise - as well as a little bit of anticipation - as Angela half-dragged, half-led the man into the Jeffersonian.

888

Dr. Temperence Brennan was up on the forensic platform examining a set of remains when Angela came up on the platform.

"Sweetie." she said.

Dr. Brennan didn't even look up. "What is it, Angela?" she asked.

"I've got a surprise for you." she said.

"Can it wait?" Brennan asked, still focused in on the remains.

Suddenly, her concentration was shattered as an unfamiliar voice answered. "Sorry, Tes, but it can't."

Bones nearly dropped the mandible that she was holding at the sound of that voice. She set the bone down slowly as Mr. Vincent Nigel-Murray looked on in confusion.

" _Theta."_ she whispered, then said it once again, slightly louder, as she moved around the examination table, her eyes filling up with tears.

Everyone else stopped what they were doing as alarms went off when the man in the bow tie and tweed rushed onto the forensic platform as Dr. Temperence Brennan rushed at him.

"Theta!" she yelled, jumping into his arms, clutching at him like she was dying. He spun her around, clutching at her just as tightly.

"Tes…" he muttered, collapsing on the floor with the crying Dr. Brennan still in his arms.

"I thought I've never see you again…" Dr. Brennan was crying as she pulled away, looking him in the eyes. "After the last time….. back home….. Arcadia…."

The Doctor stroked her hair soothingly. "I know, Tes… it's alright, I'm here….. I'm here…."

 **A/N~ So there you go! First chapter done. The Doctor, Brennan, and Angela all know each other, but how? And how do the Doctor and Bones know each other? Please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

After about five minutes of the duo sitting on the floor of the forensic platform, just holding onto each other, Temperance felt someone touch her shoulder. She lifted her head to see Angela smiling at her, and she managed to smile back at her, eyes still shining with tears.

"Come on, Brennan." Her best friend - and the one human who knew the truth about her - said gently. "Let's go talk in your office."

Temperance nodded as she got to her feet, pulling the strange man along with her.

Before they could even make it halfway to her office, though, Booth stopped them.

"Whoa, Bones!" he protested. "Aren't you going to explain?"

"Explain what, Booth?" she asked, confused as to why her partner had stopped her from proceeding to her office.

"Who this guy is?" Booth asked, as if it was an obvious question.

She could hear Theta next to her, whispering to Angela, "Well, her people skills haven't gotten any better."

Then there was Angela's snort of laughter as she elbowed Theta in the ribs before returning her attention to Booth.

"I don't see how that is any of your concern, Booth." Dr. Brennan responded, pushing past her FBI - and occasionally romantic - partner.

As she walked away, Booth could hear her and Angela talking with her mysterious 'Theta':

"Ok Doc, tell me _everything._ "

"Where did you visit? Which species of flora and fauna did you come across, Theta?"

8888

 _Brennan's P.O.V._

As soon as my office door was closed, Theta was attacking me in a hug, and I laughed as he lifted me off of my feet.

"Theta Lungbarrow, put me _down!_ " I shrieked, and he dropped me automatically before looking around my office.

"Right. So," he said, pausing, before spinning with a flourish. "What do you think?"

Angela nodded appreciatively, while I outright laughed. "You look ridiculous." I told him.

Honestly, I was glad that the rest of my colleagues - and Booth - didn't see me right now. I was a different person around Theta than I was with anyone else. Angela had traveled with us enough that she knew the difference, and had become very good friends with him in the process.

"Which number are you on now?" I asked quietly. The last time that I had seen him, he was on number Four…..

"Eleven." he answered quietly, and Angela gasped, but I just raised an eyebrow. "Okay." he huffed, before admitting, "Thirteenth."

"So we're finally even then." I stated, and he nodded solemnly. "And Gallifrey?" I said, almost afraid to ask.

"Gone." Theta said sadly, his shoulders drooping as Angela pulled him down to sit in between the two of us on my couch. She wrapped him in a hug as I tried to process that. Gallifrey - while not one of my favourite places - had still been my home. Now it was gone.

Theta wrapped me up in a hug, and that was when I realized I was crying.

We just sat like that for another thirty minutes or so, before managing to compose ourselves even a little.

"So." I said, and my voice was thicker than normal, but I ignored it. "What have you been doing since then?"

That sent him into a story involving a version of him with big ears and a leather jacket, a girl named Rose, and the Nestene Consciousness in London…

 _several hours later….._

"Wow." I said, exhausted from just listening to - and occasionally watching re-enactments - of his adventures. "Are you sure that's all?"

"Well…" Theta said, giving a secretive little smile, and Angela and I shared a glance.

"Out with it, time boy." Angela said, trying not to laugh.

"What?" he asked, looking entirely too pleased with himself.

"Oh, just tell us already." I said, rolling my eyes. "You are rubbish at keeping secrets."

"Ha!" Theta said, pointing at me with childish glee. "You said 'rubbish'!"

"So?" I asked. "You say it all of the time. In _all_ of your regenerations."

"Yes, but you're _American._ " he responded with exaggerated patience.

"Don't think that this is going to get you off of the hook, young man." I warned, smiling happily as he pouted.

"Fine." he whined, but then jumped up off of my couch. "But I can't tell you about it." he said, as he left my office, heading back into the main lab area where Booth was still sitting.

"And why not?" Angela asked.

"Because you'll never believe me unless I show you!" he responded.

"Fine." I said, too tired to deal with him anymore. "When will you be coming back?" I asked him.

"Uh….. tomorrow…. I think!" He said, and I rolled my eyes before shooing him off.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N - So I forgot to mention this before, but this story takes place after episode 5x16 "The Parts in the Sum of the Whole", as far as the Bones timeline is concerned. As for Doctor Who, it takes place slightly before TATM.**

 **Disclaimer: I still do not own either Doctor Who or Bones….. Sadly.**

 _Booth's P.O.V._

It had been about a month since Bones's "friend" came to visit, promising to come back again the next day

However, he had yet to return. I was surprised that she hadn't gotten mad at him yet - after all, she got mad at me when I was late to pick her up for a case.

But when I asked her about it, all that she do was smile and say that "Theta" always was terrible at timing.

The part that irritated me the most about the whole thing was that Bones still refused to tell me who the hell this 'Theta' guy was. He would only let Bones call him that, too. He told everyone else to call him 'the Doctor', even Angela. Angela refused to tell me, too - whenever I asked, she'd just say that it wasn't her secret to tell.

However, things only got worse that day.

8888

 _The Doctor's P.O.V._

I had finally landed the TARDIS about half a kilometer away from the Jeffersonian Institute, after being….. _distracted,_ from what I had been trying to do.

"Speaking of distractions…" I murmured, feeling a brush on the telepathic bond between River and I, mere moments before her arms wrapped around my waist.

"So what is it that you wanted to show me, Sweetie?" she asked, her voice sending shivers down my spine.

I turned to face her, smirking as I said "Spoilers."

She rolled her eyes at me as I giggled. "You've been dying to use that, haven't you?" she accused, and I nodded, grabbing her hand as I pulled her outside.

River looked around as we stepped outside, taking in the cars, the environment… and finally her eyes widened as she saw the Jeffersonian.

"Oh, _Sweetie._ " she breathed.

"And," I told her, slipping my hand into hers once more. "There's someone here I'd like you to meet."

8888

 _Booth's P.O.V._

Bones and I were just getting back to the Lab after lunch at the diner when we heard it.

" _Sweetie,_ who is it?" A woman's voice; from across the pond, judging by the accent.

" _Rivah-_ " another voice, this one male - and very familiar - whined. "If I tell you who we're going to see, it won't be a surprise!"

"If you tell me-" I stopped in my tracks as I turned the corner, and felt Bones run into me from behind. "-I'll be sure to thank you for it later on…"

"Booth!" she complained loudly. I hushed her, before pulling her around the corner so that we wouldn't be spotted.

I was so mad. It was obvious that 'the Doctor' was cheating on Bones! Didn't he know how lucky he was to have her? She was going to be furious!

"Just… stay put, okay Bones?" I said, leaving before she could answer.

" _Rivah!"_ 'the Doctor' - because I refused to believe that that was his real name - whispered. "Someone might hear you!"

"Actually," I said, coming up behind them, "Someone already has." And with that, I grabbed onto the British dude's jacket and slammed him into the wall.

8888

 _River Song's P.O.V._

An American man in a rather nice suit came up to us and just slammed my husband into the wall for no reason. I pulled out my gun, and was about to threaten him, when I heard what he was saying to my Doctor.

"How could you?" the man all but growled. "She is the best thing that could ever possibly happen to you - how could you even think of cheating on her?"

" _Excuse me?_ " I asked, blinking in surprise. This man was accusing the Doctor of cheating on someone - which meant that he would also be cheating on me.

"Not now, lady." the man said to me dismissively, before turning back to my husband. "And you had the nerve to bring your little girlfriend _here_ , of all places…."

I heard a female voice saying, "Booth? What are you -" just as I said, " _Girlfriend?_ I'm his _wife!_ "

"Wife?" the voice said in surprise, and I turned around to look at her. "Oh, Theta! How could you?"

She was beautiful, and while I normally would have been at least slightly jealous, for some reason I wasn't this time. Her hand was clasped to her mouth, and there were tears shining in her eyes.

"See, Bones?" the man said, smug yet sad. "He's no good for you, I've known it all along. He doesn't _deserve_ -"

He cut himself off as "Bones" ran past him, throwing herself on top of the Doctor.

That's when I decided enough was enough.

"Right then." I said, raising an eyebrow at my husband. "Would anyone care to explain what's going on?"

8888

 _Brennan's P.O.V._

I couldn't believe it. Theta, _my_ Theta, was married!

"Wife?" I asked in surprise, and the woman turned to look at me. She was absolutely stunning, with big blonde curls and blue-green eyes, and a gorgeous figure. "Oh Theta, how could you?"

I heard Booth talking, but I didn't listen to a word that he was saying as I launched myself at Theta, wrapping my arms around him in a hug.

"Right then." The blonde woman said, and I pulled away from Theta just enough to see the murderous look she was giving. "Would anyone care to explain what's going on?"

8888

 _Booth's P.O.V._

I couldn't understand why Bones was _happy_ about this.

"What the hell, Bones?" I asked her. "How are you not furious with him? This 'Doctor' of yours is a cheating bastard, and you're acting like nothing is wrong?"

Brennan pulled away from the guy like he was poisonous, and he backed away from her as well. "What are you talking about, Booth?" she asked me, making a face.

The Doctor made an equally disgusted one. "You don't _really_ think -"

"Oh, that's _disgusting!_ "

"Rivah, I swear I'm not cheating." the Doctor said, while Bones continued to stare at me in shock. "I promise, dear."

River just looked at him, unimpressed. "Oh really?" she asked, raising a brow at the man in the bow tie. "Then who is she?"

8888

 _The Doctor's P.O.V._

I moved forward, grabbing River's hand in my own as I moved closer to Tes.

"River Song, I'd like you to meet Tes -" Tes glared at me l, and I quickly said, "Sorry, Dr. Temperance Brennan."

River just rolled her eyes at me as she huffed. "Yes, I know that. But who is she to you?"

That's when Tes smiled at me, before turning to River.

"I'm his sister." She said, pulling River into a hug. "It's very nice to meet you."

 **A/N~ Hello, my sweeties and squints! I'm so,** _ **so**_ **sorry that its taken so long for me to update this, but I wanted to make the big reveal as perfect as possible. So what do you think? I know some of you thought that The Doctor was Temperance's husband/boyfriend/significant other, but nope! Surprise! Hopefully, I should have more updates coming up soon! Also, I know that Dr. Brennan was somewhat OOC. But remember, Dr. Brennan was an identity that Tes adopted. So while many of her personality traits are the same, many of them are different as well.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi everyone! I'm so sorry that its been so long since I updated - I kind of forgot about this story a bit… oops. Anyway, here's the next chapter!**

 **The Gallifreyan ceremony in this chapter is something that I completely made up - I have no idea if there is one at all like it.**

 _Tes's P.O.V._

"I'm his sister." I said, pulling the woman into a hug. "It's very nice to meet you."

I pulled back to look at her again. She was a couple of inches shorter than I was, with beautiful blue-green eyes and a wild mane of blonde curls. She also had a lovely curvy figure, which was nearly the exact opposite of my brother's lean and lanky frame.

"You have a sister?" she asked, turning to look at Theta. "But I thought…" she didn't say the last few words, but since they were married, she might not have to. The Time Lords could communicate telepathically, but the link between bonded Time Lords was even stronger. Of course, she would have to be a Time Lady for that link to be possible, or at least from a species with strong telepathic capabilities…

"Yes, well, I believe that there are some things that I ought to explain…" Theta said, smiling shyly at his wife.

"Yeah, I'd say so pal." Booth said, and I jumped slightly. I had completely forgotten that he was there, which just went to show how much this news had thrown me. Speaking of…

I turned to my younger brother and punched him in the shoulder. "Ow!" he whined, rubbing the spot as he pouted at me.

"How could you not tell me about this?" I demanded. "You didn't even invite me!"

"It was rather complicated…" she said, and that was when I realized something.

"Theta, you haven't even introduced us yet." I said, trying not to laugh. My brother flailed and blushed, as he knew exactly what I meant. Unfortunately, his wife didn't know.

"Sorry." she said. "I'm -"

"NO!" He yelled, clapping a hand over her mouth. "That's not what she meant, dear." She looked confused, but nodded anyway. He looked at me. "Is there someplace we can go to talk…?" he asked, and the hidden meaning was clear - _without being overheard._

"Of course." I said. "We can go to my office… actually, I'll meet you two there." I decided.

"Bones, have you forgotten? We have a case to work on!" Booth said, exasperated.

"It can wait, Booth!" I told him, starting to get irritated. "This, on the other hand, cannot. Please respect that."

I walked away before he had a chance to answer, with Theta and his wife following behind me.

8888

 _Booth's P.O.V._

Bones was acting weird, weirder than usual. She was brushing me off, and keeping secrets from me, and then when I brought up the case that we were working on, she brushed me off. Then she left me behind and when off to do something with her brother - which was still surprising me, since I didn't even know that Bones had another brother other than Russ - and as they were walking away, I heard her brother ask her, "He doesn't know, does he?"

Bones shushed him and shook her head, leaving me wondering what exactly they were talking about.

What was she hiding?

8888

 _Tes's P.O.V._

"I'm impressed that you managed to keep the timelines in the correct order, Theta." I said as we made our way to the lab. "You usually get them completely mixed up. Also, you were only a little over a month late this time. Your skills at navigating through the Time Vortex have improved significantly." His wife laughed at that, while he just pouted.

"Oi!" he complained. "I drive the Old Girl _perfectly_!"

I rolled my eyes at him. "Of course you do, little brother. You just failed your test on purpose."

"Exactly!" he said triumphantly, before realizing what I had said. "Hey!"

I started laughing at that, right before we walked into the main lab area. Theta's wife looked around in awe, and I knew that once we were properly introduced, we would be good friends.

"You two can head over to my office - Theta, you remember where it is." I instructed. "I'll be there in a minute - I just have to grab Angela, she'll want to be there for this."

8888

 _River's P.O.V._

As soon as we got into Dr. Brennan's office - and I was still having a hard time believing that my husband had actually brought me to the _Jeffersonian Institute,_ of all places - I turned to look at him. "Explain." I said, crossing my arms as I looked at him. "You said you were the last, sweetie."

"Well, yes, I suppose I did." the Doctor said, scratching at his cheek. "But you should know by now, dear - Rule One."

"The Doctor lies." I sighed, rolling my eyes. "Well then tell me." He sat down on the couch, and patted the spot next to him. I walked over and sat down, curling up next to him.

"In my fourth regeneration, I got a call from my sister - from Tes." He began, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. "A Time Lord distress call. She had gotten into trouble while she traveled the universe. Only instead of traveling for the adventure of it, like we do, she traveled so that she could study the cultures of other species. and now she was on her last regeneration. So she asked for my help. So I brought her to Earth, around the same time period as that of one of my old companions -"

"Dr. Brennan, I have the results -" the Doctor stopped talking as a dark-haired woman entered the office. She stopped when she saw us sitting there, though. "I'm sorry, I wasn't aware that Dr. Brennan had visitors."

"That's quite alright." my husband said, jumping up from where he sat and walking over to her. I was still sitting there, completely in shock. "I'm the Doctor, by the way, that's what everyone calls me, I'm not sure why. That's what I call me, as well…" He looked confused. "I'm actually not sure why."

She smiled at him, although I could tell that she was wondering what he was going on about. "Nice to meet you." she said. "I'm -"

That's when I interrupted, jumping up off of the couch to stand next to my husband. "Dr. Camille Saroyan." I said. "It's an honour to meet you, I've heard so much about you!"

Now she looked surprised, and a little embarrassed. "You have?" she asked, and I nodded.

"Your work is amazing." I gushed. "I mean, truly -"

"Doctor Saroyan!" the Doctor's sister - Tes - called out as she came into her office, followed by another woman who immediately went over to him and pulled him into a hug. "What are you doing in here?" she asked. This was the first time that I actually had a chance to get a good look at her. She was slightly taller than I was, with dark brown hair and piercing blue eyes. She was definitely gorgeous - much like her brother.

"Um, I was looking for you." she said. "I finished sifting through the stomach contents, and the toxicology report came back clean."

"That is excellent news, Dr. Saroyan." Dr. Brennan said. "But it is not needed right now, so please leave."

"Tes!" the Doctor scolded.

"What?" she asked. "It's the truth - now is not a good time to be discussing this case."

Dr. Saroyan gave a slight smile. "Alright then." she said. "I'll just… be in my office."

She turned and walked out, and the Doctor kept scowling at his sister. "That was rude, Tes."

"But it was the truth." she protested.

"Sweetie, that can wait." the other woman said, crossing over to look at me. She crossed her arms, as she looked me up and down, and I did the same to her. She was beautiful, but not in the way that my husband, his sister, or even I was. While there was something clearly different about the Time Lords - and the human plus Time Lord - Angela's beauty was completely human. She had that spark in her eyes, the one that I had grown to associate with people who had traveled with the Doctor, but the light in her eyes wasn't weighed down by the ancient knowledge and pain that my husband and his sister had.

"And who are you?" I asked her.

"I'm Angela." she said. "Angela Montenegro."

"Lovely to meet you." I told her, smiling at her. "I'm -"

This time, both my sweetie and his sister shouted, " _no!_ " Angela and I turned to look at them both in shock.

"What is the problem, sweetie?" I asked, and Dr. Brennan smirked, while Angela started laughing outright.

"Sweetie?" Angela asked, once she was able to stop laughing. "Seriously?"

"Oh, shut up." my husband said, but there was no bite in his tone, before spinning on his heels to look at me. "And you can't introduce yourself yet, because -"

"Because of the Introduction Ceremony." I said, remembering what I had learned while working on my doctorate at Luna University. "I'm sorry, I should have remembered that."

"It's alright, dear." My husband said, walking over to me and bopping me on the nose. "Anyways, shall we?"

"We shall." I said, and I smiled at him even though I was secretly nervous.

My husband looped my arm through his, and led me towards his sister, who had arranged herself and Angela so that the human woman was standing on her right side.

"Doctor." She said solemnly, and for the first time I truly saw her age in her eyes. "You come before us today to introduce your chosen mate to us, and for us to decide if we shall accept her."

My husband stepped forward, pulling me along with him. "Family," he said, and I was surprised at how stiff he was - both in his tone of voice and his posture. "I present to you my chosen mate, who has taken the name of River Song. We have bonded, and our timelines continue as one throughout all of space and time. She has frozen time for me, and I have rewritten it for her."

Dr. Brennan looked surprised at that information, but kept on going nonetheless. "Do you swear to stay together and navigate through the endless bounds of time and space at each others sides?" she asked.

"We do." We replied in unison. The other women looked at each other, as if they were having some sort of silent conversation before nodding.

They both then turned to look at us once more, and Dr. Brennan smiled. "River Song," she intoned, and it felt like my hearts were caught in my throat. "We consent and gladly give you our brother, and welcome you into our house." Once that was said, both Angela and Dr. Brennan smiled happily at us. "Welcome to the family, River." Dr. Brennan said, and then pulled me into a hug. "And I suppose," she added. "Now that you are family, you may refer to me as Tes, like my brother does."

"Hey, what's going on?" A new voice said, and we all turned around to see who it was. The voice came from a smaller man, with curly brown hair and big blue eyes.

"Brennan was just introducing me to her brother's wife." Angela said, quickly coming up with a cover story of sorts.

I stepped out from behind my husband and smiled at the man. "Hello." I greeted him. "I'm Dr. River Song."

"You're a doctor as well?" Dr. Brennan - _Tes_ \- asked, and I nodded. "Of what?"

"Archeology." I said, and then I turned and glared at my husband, who was standing behind me and looking entirely too innocent. "And don't you even start." I warned him.

"I didn't do anything!" he protested, looking hurt. I might have believed him, too, if Tes hadn't spoken up.

"That's not entirely true - you did make a face when she mentioned her chosen profession." she pointed out. He started grumbling about how 'the girls were ganging up on him now', making us all laugh.

"Well, it's nice to meet you." The man said, shaking both of our hands. "I'm Dr. Hodgins, Angie's husband."

The Doctor looked surprised at that. "Really?" he asked, bounding forward to get a better look at the newcomer. "Angela, you never mentioned you had a husband."

Dr. Hodgins looked slightly offended, and turned to look at his wife for an explanation.

"The Doctor is an old friend - a _very_ old friend." she said, and Tes and I laughed softly as he started pouting again. "This is the first time that I've seen him in years, except for that one day last month."

"And you didn't mention that you were married because…?"

Before she could answer, though, my husband stepped forward so that his face was only a few inches away from Dr. Hodgins's. "If you ever hurt her," he began, his voice cold and quiet. "There is no place in the universe that you will be able to hide. You can run, as fast and as far as you wish, but I _will_ find you. Am I clear?"

Hodgins looked shocked for a minute before he replied. "Yeah… yeah, man, you're clear." he said.

Angela just looked resigned. "And _that_ would be why I didn't tell him." she said.

"I'm just going to… go…" Hodgins said awkwardly, before practically running out of the room.

"I'm going to go after him. Hopefully the 'Oncoming Storm' didn't scar him for life, like it did to the last guy you met." Angela said, glaring at the Doctor for a moment before following after her husband.

"That wasn't my fault!" he protested, yelling after her. "How was I supposed to know that he wasn't a fan of the big lizards?"

"The big lizards?" I asked, confused.

Tes nodded. "The last time that Theta was introduced to one of Angela's boyfriends, he told us that he liked lizards. So _someone_ thought it would be nice to take him back to see the dinosaurs."

I couldn't help the snort of laughter that escaped at that, and I turned to see that my husband was looking rather smug. "Just because I'm laughing doesn't mean I'm happy about it, sweetie."

"Speaking of old times," the Doctor began. "How did you know I was alive?"

"What makes you think that I knew?" Tes countered.

"Because if you hadn't known, there would have been punching instead of hugging." he said bluntly.

"That is true." she admitted. "An old friend of yours - two of them, actually - would come around and visit every so often. Although, as they are both based in the United Kingdom, we mainly communicate via email and phone."

"Who…?" my husband trailed off, as if he were afraid to know the answer to his question.

Tes smirked at him as she went to sit down on the couch with us. "Miss Sarah Jane Smith, of course." she said, and the Doctor's relief was nearly tangible.

"My Sarah Jane." he said fondly. "How is she doing? I ran into her a little while ago,

"She is doing quite well." she answered.

"And the other?" I asked, and judging by how Tes's smirk had grown, I knew that that had been the right question to ask.

"Captain Jack Harkness, of the Torchwood Institute." she said, and laughed as my husband started flailing. "I'm rather surprised, Theta. That a stick-in-the-mud like yourself would know Captain Jack Harkness…" she let out a string of Gallifreyan words, and while I still didn't know that much Gallifreyan, I knew enough to understand her meaning. I started laughing while the Doctor looked scandalized.

" _Do you know Gallifreyan?"_ Tes asked me, and I replied without even thinking about it.

" _Yes, I do."_ That was what made Tes look surprised, and it took me a minute to realize that it was because I had answered her in Gallifreyan.

"That's amazing!" she said, clasping her hands together before throwing her arms around me in a hug.

We talked for a little while longer, before Dr. Hodgins came back in. "Hey, Dr. B" he called, leaning in the doorway. "Do you know where Wendell is? I need his help to finish this experiment…" he trailed off when the Doctor jumped up from where he had been sitting on the couch.

"Experiment?" he asked, moving over to where the curly-haired man stood. "What kind of experiment?"

He looked over at Tes for a second, as if he was asking for her permission, and she nodded.

"Its, uh, to determine what type of weapon could have left pitting in the victim's bones." he said, sounding confused.

"That sounds excellent!" my husband said, clapping his hands together. "D'you mind if I help out?"

Hodgins laughed. "Sure man, why not?" he responded, and they were about to leave the room together when I called out after them.

"Sweetie?"

The Doctor popped his head back around the door frame. "Yes dear?" he asked.

"Try not to blow up everything." I told him, and he smirked.

"Yes dear."

8888

 _Tes's P.O.V._

"So, I'm assuming that you wanted to ask me something that you didn't want my brother to hear." I said, as soon as Theta was across the lab and out of hearing range. It was strange, having to wait that long for someone to be out of range, but it was nice all the same.

"What?" River asked me, sounding shocked.

"Usually someone who knows my brother as well as we do wouldn't send him off to do an experiment unsupervised." I explained. "Warning or no warning, he will still find a way to make things explode."

River laughed for a moment before falling silent. She looked… nervous, which was something that I already knew wasn't normal for her. We just sat there for a minute or two, before she spoke.

"When we first got here…" she began slowly. "You seemed surprised… _shocked_ that the Doctor had gotten married. But we both know that he's been married before. So why…?"

"Why was I surprised?" I asked, and she nodded, looking slightly sheepish. I settled down into the couch a bit more, getting comfortable. "First, you have to understand the… _complexities_ … of Time Lord marriages. They weren't made for love - they were made to provide an increase in the socio-economic, as well as the political status of the families involved."

River snorted. "That sounds _lovely_."

"Not exactly." I said, not sure where she had gotten that idea from. She gave me a look then, one that took me a few moments to figure out. "Oh - you were being sarcastic, weren't you?" I asked, and she nodded. "That's one of the quirks of humanity that I still have to completely figure out." I admitted.

"Just how long have you been here, anyway? In this time period, I mean." she asked. I thought about it for a minute before answering.

"Around nine years now, I believe. I've been working here for the last seven, though." I told her, before returning to the original topic. "But back to the whole… 'marriage' thing." I said. "Yes, Theta was married before, but he was one of the unfortunate souls who did not actually love their chosen mate. They didn't even have a proper bonding." I admitted. "She never learned his name - he told her it was too dangerous for her to know it. After he was exiled from Gallifrey, back in his third regeneration, his marriage contract was declared null and void, as he was no longer welcome on our planet. After that, he swore that he wouldn't marry again…" she paused for a moment, as if thinking about whether or not she should say the next part. "Unless he fell in love."

She looked like she was about to start crying, and I panicked slightly. "Did I say something wrong?" I asked.

She smiled even as she wiped her tears away. "No, you didn't." she finally said. "In fact, you said exactly the right thing."

It was right then that alarms started blaring, and we heard a small explosion from out in the main area of the lab.

There was chaos happening out there, but River and I just took a moment to laugh - we had seen this coming a mile away.

"Some things never change." I mused.

 **A/N~ Thank you to everyone for being so patient with me! I am so sorry about how long its taken me to update this story - it really isn't cool, I know. I'm going to attempt to finish this story, but I just don't know how long it will take. Thank you to dw7thdoctor and SailorNeoQueen for their reviews!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N~ This takes place directly after season six, episode nine: The Doctor in the Photo.**

 _I understand. I missed my chance._

 _Tes's P.O.V._

I was confused, with no idea what was happening to me, but it terrified me. Instinctively, I had some idea as to what was happening, but I didn't know what to do about it, or how to react. This was completely new territory, and that scared me more than anything. I was completely broken at this point. I got into my apartment and headed straight for my closet, letting the tears run down my face as I pulled the chain out from under my shirt that I kept my TARDIS key on. I opened up the door and went right inside, allowing the soothing hum of my TARDIS to surround me.

I walked over to the console and began pressing buttons, doing a slight dance around the console as I flew her. I opened up the door to see Angela staring at me, with Hodgins nowhere in sight.

"Sweetie?" Angela asked me, the shock gone from her face as soon as she saw me. "What happened? You look awful."

That was when Hodgins came walking back into the room, freezing in the doorway as he stared at my TARDIS, still disguised as a wardrobe.

"What. Is. _That?_ " Hodgins asked, getting up from where he sat and walking over to the Old Girl. "And why are you standing inside it?"

"Not now Hodgins." Angela said, coming over to where I was standing and leading me over to a chair. "Sweetie." she called, but I didn't answer. Something was wrong, I knew it, but I didn't know what. What I did know was that I couldn't say anything - I was crying so hard that I couldn't get a single word out. "Brennan." she tried again. "Hodgins, please, get away from there!" she yelled, and I was able to make out the back of Hodgins' head disappearing inside of the TARDIS through my tears.

Finally, she said the one name that was practically guaranteed to get me to focus. "Anthropologist." she called softly, and I practically snapped to attention. She smiled at me softly. "It's been a long time since I've had to call you that." she whispered. I smiled back, hiccupping softly as my tears slowed down. "What do you need, sweetie?" she asked me.

"Call… call R-River…" I said, still hiccupping. "Please…"

"Of course." she said, taking the phone that I handed to her.

"THIS IS AMAZING!" we heard Hodgins yell from inside my TARDIS. I looked up at Angela in alarm, my tears stopping as soon as I heard him.

"What is he doing in my ship?" I hissed, and she looked at me defensively.

"Don't look at me, Anthro." she said, using her oldest nickname for me. She had come up with it right after we met, deciding that 'Anthropologist' was too long to say all of the time. "You're the one who flew the TARDIS into our living room." With that, she stood back up and practically sprinted over to the Old Girl, almost squealing as she ran inside.

"Angela!" I called after her, and she popped her head back out, raising an eyebrow at me.

"Oh, come on, sweetie." She said. "I haven't been inside in almost seven years, I'm just excited to say hello!"

She ran inside then, and I followed after her. Angela was leaning against the console with her eyes closed and a blissful smile on her face, as she started to talk with my TARDIS. Angela had always been one of her favourites, even though she had originally traveled with the Doctor. Meanwhile, Hodgins was still standing closer to the door, completely shocked.

I shut the door behind me, which was enough to get Hodgins to snap out of whatever trance-like state he was in. "This… this is impossible." he told me, pointing at the interior.

"Not impossible, Dr. Hodgins." I corrected. "Merely an eleventh-dimensional sentient time and space capsule." The Old Girl hummed and dimmed her lights, and I frowned, stroking the console. "Sorry, sweetheart." I whispered.

"What is it?" He asked, and the TARDIS hummed - she always was a smug old thing.

" _She_ -" I stressed, "- is a TARDIS."

"What's a TARDIS?" Was the next question. This time, it was Angela who answered.

"It stands for Time And Relative Dimension In Space, honey." she said, making her way down to stand next to her husband.

"So a time _and space_ ship?" Hodgins asked, and we both nodded. I, for one, was glad that he had picked up on the meaning right away. Some of the humans that knew about the TARDIS had to have everything explained to them, and I was relieved that that would not be the case this time. "And she's alive?" he asked.

I nodded. "That is correct, Dr. Hodgins."

"So… you're an alien?" Hodgins asked, his face completely blank of any expressions.

I was honestly nervous about this part - I hadn't really been thinking when I input the coordinates to get to Angela's, and now I was dealing with the consequences. I knew Hodgins well enough by now to know that there was little - if any - chance that he would tell anyone the truth about me, however. Despite his strange obsession with conspiracies and aliens, he was a good person, who would not put his friends in danger.

So I answered, "Yes." I said softly. "Is that okay?"

He nodded absently, still preoccupied with looking around the console room. "It explains a lot, actually."

Angela snorted at that, and I tried not to let how offended I was show on my face. I apparently failed, though, because he immediately tried to fix what he had said. "Not in a bad way, or anything!" he said quickly. "It's just… even now, you still don't really get how to act like a human." He paused for a moment. "Never thought I'd actually get to say that." he commented.

"So… you're okay with this?" I asked cautiously.

He nodded. "Yeah, I think I am." Then he stopped for a moment before turning to look at Angela. "You knew!" he accused. "You've known this entire time, haven't you?"

Angela nodded. "Anthro and I traveled together for a little bit before she settled down. But I traveled with the Doctor first."

We had all moved back out of my ship and into the living room by that point, and had settled down - Angela and Hodgins were sitting together on the couch, while I sat in one of the chairs. "The Doctor?" he asked, sounding more confused than he had during the rest of our explanation. "What kind of a name is that?"

"It's more of a title than a name." I began to explain, finally calming down completely. "Just like my chosen title is the Anthropologist."

"Do you remember the guy that came to visit - the one that helped you blow up the lab?" Angela asked, and I almost laughed when Dr. Hodgins winced. Apparently he was still in trouble for that incident. "That was the Doctor."

Hodgins looked shocked, to say the least. "He was an alien?" he asked. "A real, live alien?"

That was when a familiar voice cut in. "Oh, he's definitely an alien - why else would he think that bow ties are cool?"

We all turned around to see a familiar head of frizzy blonde curls entering the room. "Hello Tes, Angela. Sorry for breaking into your house." she greeted. Then she turned to the third member of our group. "And you must be Doctor Jack Hodgins."

Hodgins looked smug. "They've told you about me?" he assumed, but his smug smile faded when she shook her head.

"Not quite. I'm an archeologist from the future - I simply dug you up." she smirked. "Although, I also remember something about you almost blowing up my husband the last time that we were in the area."

Hodgins at least had the decency to look slightly sheepish, but she ignored him, focusing on me instead. "What's the matter, Tes?" she asked, moving to sit next to me on the steps that led up to the console.

"I… I'm not sure." I admitted. "It feels like I've lost everything, and that nothing can possibly fix that."

Angela looked confused, but River looked like something had occured to her. "What were you doing when that started, Tes?" she asked softly, and I started to tear up again just thinking about it.

"Booth and I were talking…" I began, wiping my tears from my face. "I told him I love him."

Angela gasped, and Hodgins smiled. "That's great!"

But River studied my face, and came up with a different answer. "He doesn't return your feelings, does he?" she asked softly, and I shook my head.

"Right, I know exactly what the problem is." River announced, before turning to Angela. "Do you know where the kitchens are?" she asked, and my best friend/companion nodded. "Good. We're going to need ice cream and wine, lots of it. Doctor Hodgins, you're welcome to join us if you wish." she finished, before pulling me to my feet. "Come on, Tes." she said, flashing me a small smile.

"What's the matter with Dr. B?" Hodgins asked, walking alongside us. "Is it some sort of alien virus?"

River laughed. "Nothing quite that simple, I'm afraid. Our dear Doctor Brennan is suffering from heartbreak."

"What?" Hodgins laughed nervously. "That's it?"

River glared at him for a moment, before saying lightly, "An old friend of mine said something once, and I shall never forget it. She said, 'heartbreak is a burden to us all. Pity the man with two.' Of course, at the time she was referring to my husband, but it applies in this situation as well."

"She sounds wonderful." I managed to say, while Dr. Hodgins just stared.

"But surely you have to have had your heart broken before, Brennan." Hodgins protested. "I mean, how old are you?"

"I've lost track over the centuries." I admitted. "But I would estimate that I am at some point in my third or fourth millennia. Besides, bonding with a mate based on love was unheard of on my planet, at least among Time Lords. They bonded for social status, political, or economical gain."

"I'm sorry, I must have heard you wrong." he said after a minute. "I could've sworn you said two. As in, two hearts. And third or fourth millennia?"

"Yes, that's right." River said, as though it was the most normal thing in the world. "I'm assuming that you use some sort of perception filter to hide from the security systems and scanners at the Jeffersonian." she said, and I nodded.

"Yes, that is correct." I said, showing her my hand where the dolphin ring lays. "It was a gift from Brigadier Sir Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart. Do you know him?"

"I'm afraid not." she said. "You know how he is - he hates endings." I nodded, knowing exactly what my sister-in-law was talking about.

"He's been like that ever since we were children." I said, and she turned to me, her eyes sparkling with mirth.

"Speaking of, I'm dying to hear some stories of my husband as a child…" she said, smirking wickedly.

I laughed. "I'm sure that can be arranged, as long as you tell me about what he has gotten up to over the centuries. I understand that you are an archeologist, as well?"

"That's right, but tonight is not the time to be discussing work." she decided as we finally reached our destination - the media room. Angela was already there, waiting for us with a bottle of wine and a bottle of hypervodka, along with chocolate ice cream. "Tonight is the time to watch crap telly and discuss how terrible boys can be. Oh, I have some great stories for that - there was this one time, with a Nestene Duplicate…" she paused then, setting herself down on a couch, before looking up at me.

"There is one thing that I don't quite understand, however." she said softly. "Why did you call me? The Doctor would have been here just as quickly, and you're far closer with him than you are me."

Angela laughed, and then answered for me. "Isn't it obvious?" she asked. "Even though the Doctor is the younger sibling, he's still very overprotective of our Anthropologist. Even with his whole pacifist thing, I'm betting he would have killed Booth for hurting her."

River laughed at that before saying anything else. "And I know this might not be much consolation at the moment, Tes…" she said softly. "But I can assure you, there will be a time when you look back on this and it doesn't hurt anymore, and everything will have worked out exactly how it should."

"You've seen my future, haven't you?" I asked, giving my sister-in-law a look. But she just smiled widely.

"Spoilers!"

 **Thank you to KirkSauber, Dragons-Twilight1992, Mermaid1108, and StichinKat for their reviews!**


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